Combined cigarette case and lighter



June 24, 1941. L MULLER 2,247,174

COMBINED CIGARETTE C ASE AND LIGHTER Filed June 6, 1939 J V6014, Z7777,1222- 0/1 Patented June 24, 1941 COMBINED CIGARETTE CASE ANDLIGHTER Leopold Miiller, Heidenreichstein, Nieder-Donau,

Germany,

assignor to Briider Eisert A. G., Vienna, Germany (formerly Austria)Application June 6. 1939, Serial No. 277,722

Germany December 14, 1938 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a combined cigarette case and lighter, of thetype which is automatically ignited by the closing of the cover of thecontainer.

A known lighter of this type combined with a conventional cigarette caseis provided with a pin projecting out of the housing of the lighter,this pin being arranged to coact with a tripping member for thespring-cover of the lighter and to be operated, on closing of thecontainer, by a lever mounted on the container cover. This lever ispivoted on the inner side of the cover of the container in a spacedrelation to the hinge thereof and is counter-supported; with theinterposition of a spring, against an abutment in the cover,in such amanner that it is prevented from rotating in one direction and displacesthe I pin when the container is closed, whereas on opening of thecontainer the lever is pivotally moved in response to the action of thepin so that the pin is not moved and the lighter therefore remainsinoperative. With this known type of cigarette case the lighter ispositively operated each time the container is closed.

An object of the invention is to enable the container to be closedwithout efiecting operation of the lighter, if desired, and to providesimplifled means for operating thelighter.

According to the invention a lighter resiliently pivoted to a containerin a known manner and constituting the fastener for the cover of thecontainer. The lighter is provided with a tripping member for itsspring-cover, which can be engaged and actuated by the edge of the coverof the container on the closing thereof, and which can be brought out ofthe path of movement of the edge by tilting of the lighter relatively tothe container, so that if-desired, the container maybe closed withoutthereby operating the lighter. The tripping member is preferably formedby a slide mounted in the housing of the lighter and adapted to coactwith a spring latch serving to retain the spring-cover in the closedposition. The edge of the container cover is provided with a recess intowhich the slide extends when the container is in the closed condition,whereby the spring latch serving to retain the cover of the'lighter inthe closed position is liberated.

An embodiment of the invention is shown by way of example in theaccompanying drawing in which:

Fig 1 is a perspective view of the arrangement according to theinvention, showing the containtion of the container and of the .lighterhinged thereon, and

Figs. 3 and 4 show a section on the line III--III of Fig. 2 with thecontainer cover in a pasition just prior to closing and in the closedposition, respectively.

The cigarette case shown in Fig. 1 consists essentially of a containeri, a cover 2, and a casing 25 provided with a lighter l. The cover 2 ishinged to the container i by means of a spring hinge 2a. With the aid ofa spring hinge 3 the casing 5 with the lighter t is pivoted to thecontainer 9. In or on the casing or housing 5 of the lighter there areassembled a fuel tank 6, an igniting arrangement and a spring-cover it,The lighter housing 5 forms the fastener for the container cover 2 byvirtue of the arrangement that it engages with its edge 1 over the edge8 of the container cover when the container is closed as shown in Fig.4.

'The lighter is a known type of friction wheel pyrophoric lighter havinga spring-loaded cover it retained in the closed position by means of aspring latch H which engages with a hooked extension fl2 in a recess 03in the spring-cover.

With the latch I i there coacts a slide it adapted to travel through anaperture a of the wall 5a of the casing 5. This slide is guided by akeeper l6 and a pin i'l passing through a slot it in the slide H5. Theslide 05 is actuated, on the closing of the container, by the edge illof the container cover owing to the fact that this edge engages theslide l5 as shown in Fig. 3, and displaces the slide until it strikesagainst and moves the latch M, with the result that the springcover iiiis released. This cover then flies open under the action of its loadingspring and operates the lighter in the usual manner.

Above the engaging edge 20 the container cover is provided with a recess2| into which the slide I 5 fits when the container is closed as shownin Fig. 4, so that the spring latch H can return into its initialposition to retain/the spring-cover Ill in'closed condition.

To open the container the casing 5 with the lighter 4, acting as afastener, is tilted about the spring hinge 3 so that the container cover2 is released and flies open under the action of the spring of thespring hinge 2a. 0n closing the To obtain this Figs. 1 and 3 while thecover 2 of the ,container is being closed, so that the slide i5 is movedout of the path of movement of the edge 29 of the con- 7 tainer cover,and is consequently not actuated to initiate the operation of thelighter. Then the casing ii is allowed to swing back to its originalposition shown in full lines in Fig. 1 in which the edge l engages theedge t of the container cover 2, and thus maintains the-cover 2 in aclosed position. As already mentioned above in the closed position ofthe cigarette case the slide i5 extends into the recess 29 of the edge29 of the cover 2.

While the invention has been described with reierence to specificstructural details it will be appreciated that changes may be madetherein. Such modifications may be made without departing iromthe spiritand scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

l claim:

1. A spring-lid pyrophoric lighter combined with a container,particularly a cigarette-case, of the type which is automaticallyignited by the act of closing the lid of the container, in which thelighter is resiliently pivoted to the container with its housingconstituting a fastener for the container lid, a tripping member for thespring-lid and formed by a slide adapted to travel in the casing of thelighter, a spring latch servingto hold the lid of the lighter in closedcondition and that it is engaged and actuated by an edge of thecontainer lid on closing of the container, and being brought out of thepath of movement of the said edge by tilting of the lighter relativelyto the container, so that, if desired, the container may be closedwithout thereby operating the lighter.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the edge of the container lidwhich coacts with the said slide is provided with a recess into whichthe slide fits when the cover of the container is a closed.

3. In a combined cigarette case and lighter having a spring-actuatedcover for automatically igniting the lighter, a container having a coverhinged thereto, a housing for the lighter pivoted to said container forengaging said container cover to maintain the same in a closed position,tripping means for retaining said spring-actuated lighter cover in aninoperative position, said tripping means being mounted for movement insaid housing and adapted to be engaged and actuated by the containercover upon movement thereof to a closed position whereby said trippingmeans may be moved out of the path of movement of said container coverby tilting the housing relative to the container.

4. In a combined cigarette case and lighter having a spring-actuatedlighter cover for automatically igniting the lighter, a container, aspring-actuated cover for closing the container, a housing for thelighter movably mounted on said container, means carried by the housingfor retaining the container cover in a closed position, a latch arrangedwithin said housing for retaining the lighter cover in an inoperativeposition, a slide member movable with respect to said housing forengaging said latch and adapted to be moved by said container cover forreleasing said lighter cover, whereby the slide member may be moved outof the path of movement of said container cover upon movement of thehousing with respect to the container.

LEOPOID MiiLLER.

